For the Kings
by Motive Robot
Summary: Years after the Fourth Great Ninja War, a new enemy threatens the maturing peace between the Five Great Shinobi Nations. Naruto's journey to defeat this unknown opponent will make him more of a shinobi he already is and reach even greater heights than being a hero. He will become a legend, one that will never be forgotten as long as people lived to tell the tale of Uzumaki Naruto.
1. Chapter 1

**For the Kings**

**Summary: **Years after the Fourth Great Ninja War, a new enemy threatens the maturing peace between the Five Great Shinobi Nations. Naruto's journey to defeat this unknown opponent will make him more knowledgeable than he ever was, more of a shinobi than he already is, and reach even greater heights than being a hero. He will become a legend, one that will never be forgotten as long as people lived to tell the tale of Uzumaki Naruto.

**Chapter 1 **

* * *

"Beta, Delta, get ready."

"Yes, sir!"

A snort, "I'm always ready!"

A lone man sat on a hollow log, slurping a bowl of steaming ramen into his greedy mouth, periodically bringing his eyes upwards to watch the slow trail the clouds made across the morning sky. To those who knew him well, taking his eyes off ramen long enough to look at something else was considered quite a hefty feat for him. He messily inhaled the soup, craning his neck back so he could drain every last drop from the decorated bowl. He put the empty container on the ground, reaching to his right where three more bowls say atop each other, covered to capture and contain the heat.

Three shuriken effectively stopped his hands in its tracks, his fingers mere centimeters from the stack.

"Delta, go!"

A boy jumped out of the bushes shadowed by the trees surrounding the area, landing in the clearing where the man looked amusedly at him. He scrunched up his face in concentration, charging at the man with a kunai in each hand. The man narrowly dodged the weapon, grabbing one bowl of ramen in the split second it took the boy to reach him, and leaped safely out of reach, peeling off the cover with practiced ease. Steam wafted up in silky streams as he grinned in delight.

Then, immediately after, the steam was severed and diminished into the air with a sharp jerk to the side when the boy slashed through it.

The slurping commenced once more, mocking the younger male with its grating sound. "Would you take this seriously?" he demanded, crossing his arms indignantly as a scowl amplified his annoyance.

"I am," the man replied with a mouthful of ramen. "You're the one who isn't taking this seriously."

"Yes I am!" the boy cried fiercely. "I'm not the one eating a bowl of ramen while training."

"This is training for you," the ramen-eating male emphasized the 'you', "not for me, so I can eat as much as I want. Besides, I'm hun-"

A girl appeared from the trees and forced a leg to come down with weighted force, cutting him off and nearly causing him to choke on his meal as he evaded the lethal strike, not spilling a drop of soup. She would not let him pause to eat, immediately bouncing to him once she landed on the grassy field with incredible speed, kicking and punching only air as he would always escape. He chuckled at the frustrated glare she shot him after she knocked out a bunshin, thinking that it was the real one.

"No bunshins," she stated, hands coming up to her chest, feet slightly apart in a battle stance.

"Fine," he shrugged, picking up a hefty lot of noodles before noisily vacuuming them into his mouth with a cheeky grin. Kids were so fun to annoy.

The earpieces that connected the children crackled as their temporary leader ordered them to fall back, muttering something about revising their initial plan. The girl nodded, smoothly disappearing back into the foliage she jumped out of, but the stubborn boy refused, standing head on against Uzumaki Naruto. "I don't run away from fights," he said confidently, cracking his knuckles. "I don't care if it's a bandit, a missing-nin, or even one of the Kages, because I never back down from a battle, Alpha."

"Delta, you idiot," their leader hissed, clearly aggravated with Delta's refusal to follow orders.

"This is Naruto-san; you know that he can beat you to hell and back without breaking a sweat."

"He's right," Beta calmly inserted. "If this was a real battle, going head first would be brash – especially since Uzumaki-san can send you to your grave."

The boy scoffed, clearly confident despite the odds against him. "He can try, but he won't be able to. I've been training my heart out to become stronger, to become as strong as him."

Alpha angrily demanded him to fall back, making sure to rile the boy by speaking of his inferiority not only to Naruto, but also to himself and their female companion, so he could possibly tempt the boy back into the woods; he was purposely using himself as bait for Delta's anger. Unfortunately, this only made the boy even more tenacious, seeing how he plucked the transmitter from his ear and threw it away with a dramatic swing of his arm. "Let's see just how good-for-nothing I am, Alpha," he smirked, opening a pouch strapped onto his pant's waistline and flicking two kunai at Naruto.

Naruto ducked in response, the weapons zipping past the tips of his hair, nearly nipping small strands of it. He chugged down the flavored soup, wiping his mouth with his sleeve, then heaved a contented sigh while he placed the bowl down on the ground. "The same as ever, aren't you, Delta?" he questioned with a grin, coming into a loose battle stance.

"No," Delta retorted, preparing to charge at him again, "I'm completely different from how I was when I first fought you, and this time I'll make sure I beat it into your head."

Naruto's lips twitched, "Let's see about that."

Delta charged, hurling a chakra-enforced fist at Naruto's face, and the triumphant smile was murdered where it was when his attack met no resistance, Naruto fluidly evading the fist. He would not let himself be discouraged, and swiftly flung out a leg, dropping his hands onto the ground for balance when he attempted to sweep the blond's feet off the ground, enforcing it with less chakra this time, knowing that his opponent would do something to avoid the hit. Now, in the few milliseconds he had to think while executing his attack, he squeezed out the different possibilities that Naruto would grab.

The edges of his ninja sandals grazed the bottom of Naruto's own when he jumped, his knees barely touching the fibers of his orange and black suit, and his hand quickly shot to flip open the pouch resting on the side of his waist that held his kunai. Before Naruto's toes landed, he rapidly flung a kunai, aiming for the shoulder, and silently growled under his breath when Naruto's own kunai appeared and blocked the gliding kunai with a sharp, echoing ring. A dull thump followed as the kunai collided with the ground, but neither paid it any mind, as Naruto suddenly became Narutos, the manifested clone picking up the fallen projectile with a mocking grin.

"This the best you got?" he taunted, the weapon lazily twirling around his forefinger.

Delta's teeth clacked fiercely against each other in an attempt to play it cool, but it was in vain since a red hue crawled up his neck and face, deepening when it reached his cheeks. When he saw the slight twitch in both Narutos' grin through the red that was licking at the edge of his vision, his lips pried apart to let out a furious rant concerning his hurt pride and how stupid the jinchuriki was being, thinking that he'd fall for the bait - which, in a sense, he did - but a gloved hand wrapped around his mouth, muffling his heated speech, and yanked him backward none too gently into the safe vegetation of bushes and trees.

The hand immediately removed itself before he could forcefully - and painfully, he added bitterly - do it himself, so the light-haired youth chose to glare at his interfering teammate who removed _him_ from _his_ fight. Why in the name of the five Kages did he pull him away? It wasn't like they were going to kill each other - at least, neither of them were able to. No loyal ninja would kill a comrade from the same birth village.

"What on earth is wrong -" his mouth was firmly covered once more, the hand digging forcefully into his skin.

"Be quiet, you idiot," Alpha hissed at him, eyes cautiously glancing around them, searching for any intruders; namely one Uzumaki Naruto. "Look, you're not able to beat him on your own -" he ignored the muffled protest reverberating against his gloved hand "- but I'm sure we could pull off some things together. Listen to me, Beta's out there distracting Naruto-san while I explain what we pieced together, so don't interrupt while I'm talking and don't get started on a rant when I'm done, got it?"

It wasn't until Alpha closed his hand dangerously tight around Delta's mouth, fingertips digging sharply into his skin, that he reluctantly nodded his agreement, if only to keep his jaw intact and not in shattered pieces.

"Alright," Alpha murmured quietly, hesitantly loosening his grip in case Delta decided to start preaching - none too quietly, he added thoughtfully - to him once his voice was freed, but he didn't, and he went on to carefully explain their spur-of-the-moment plan while keeping a close ear on the battle his teammate was fighting.

He was halfway through the explanation when a low explosion forcefully shoved the surrounding air into the forest as strong gusts of unnatural wind, cutting him off as leaves and twigs blew past them with frightening speed. "Remember what I told you," he hissed into Delta's ear. "We'll improvise if we make it past the point I told you; there's no more time to explain, Beta's getting antsy." Not waiting for any sign of understanding, Alpha quickly dashed into the clearing to help their most likely irritated female companion, while leaving his other teammate to his own devices and instincts.

Really, did Alpha think he listened to a word he said?

Really, he would be surprised if he placed that much faith in him, but luckily he _did_ listen and he _was_ going to follow the plan - just in his own roundabout way.

That was how he did things, after all.

Grinning deviously to himself, he prepared for the upcoming battle taking place somewhere ahead of him, grabbing kunais in one hand and leaving the other hand resting close to the pouch where he kept his shuriken. He remained buried in the cover the trees and bushes provided, using his ears to estimate how close he was coming to the clearing by the thick sounds of flesh hitting flesh or clothed skin, and weapons fiercely clashing against each other, creating short-lived sparks. When his eyes caught the sight of his team and Naruto battling it out, having decided to fight him together, he crept closer and closer until he could clearly make out the edges of their bodies, then waited for his turn to come.

Naruto had a stupid smile on his face ever since he saw Alpha rush out when the small explosion tag detonated, coming to Beta's aid. Granted, _she_ was the one who threw it; Naruto may like to annoy them nearly all the time, but he wasn't so stupid to try to blow them up while having a friendly - or what he considered friendly - spar. Unfortunately, Beta was not stupid, but agitated with his constant teasing, and resorted to actually acting that this was a real, serious, life-or-death battle to catch him by surprise and land some hits on him, though nothing as major as she would have wanted it.

Was it bad that Naruto was warily thinking that she wasn't pretending and wanted to really blow him to bits with constant explosions, but refrained from doing so only because they were in a training ground?

Still feeling somewhat uneasy, Naruto was proud that this particular genin team had come to their teammate's aid, no matter how stupid and how against the odds they were in winning this particular battle. _Still_, he thought to himself as he dodged a violent kick from Beta, obviously wanting to knock his head brutally off his shoulders, _there's just one person missing_. He hopped across the clearing in random patterns, hoping to drive them insane with his speed, but that did no good because it seemed Alpha had another idea and activated his Sharingan. Sure he was glad the boy was enjoying and getting caught up in the exhilarated atmosphere of battle, but did he _really_ have to suddenly appear in front of him and punch him right in the gut?

No, he didn't. That boy can hit - just like his mother, which wasn't a good thing for Naruto. He did not need any overly chakra-enhanced attacks heading his way when Sakura wasn't even _i__n the village._

He was positive the only reason she could happily accept any mission was the fact that she now had a son that could use him as a punching bag like she and Tsunade had and still do.

_Dammit, Sakura_, he thought painfully, hand furiously easing the jabbing pain away as he frantically escaped from Alpha's attacks, _why'd you have to go and teach children that it was okay to hit people mercilessly?_

Beta took this as a signal to release her own jutsus, her hands slowly going through the hands signs she had hazily remembered being taught to her as a child. Unfortunately, she was too slow, as Naruto had caught sight of the motions and quickly intercepted her attack before it could form. In that instant, a kunai zipped through the air, deftly slicing it, aimed for the Uzumaki swirl decorated on his jacket's back with practiced speed and accuracy.

Naruto ducked, but pushed Beta away as well in case the kunai hit her instead, but it didn't, and ended its course with a strong thump into a tree's trunk. _Huh_, Naruto thought dryly, _he wasn't as bad as I was when I was a fresh genin. At least he can aim properly._

"Nice shot, Delta," Naruto complimented, smiling in the direction the kunai originated from, "but you'll have to do better than that to hit me."

He faced the genins, feeling very elated with the fact that they were all ganging up on him. It just goes to show that the teams are all becoming more aware of the concept of teamwork than they were in the past.

Alpha's hands sped through practiced hand seals, shouting out, "Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!"

It would be a lie if Naruto said he wasn't surprised. After years of Sasuke shooting that cursed jutsu at him at the slightest annoyance he caused, it had been ingrained as an instinct to avoid it from searing his clothes and skin as soon as possible. So, in his defense, it was a perfectly reasonable _trauma_ that made Naruto ungracefully push himself out of the way of the attack, rolling across the soft grass to get away.

The flames licked the ground, giving birth to small fires across their makeshift battlefield. The heat was bearable, thankfully, since the technique was not yet completely mastered. Naruto hoped it never was, but he knew better.

"Dammit, Sasuke," he muttered, pulling at the small burnt edges of his clothes with distaste, "teaching that stupid attack to him… what was he thinking?"

Naruto didn't know that this particular jutsu was taught to every Uchiha, so it was a strange twist of misfortune that he had distressing memories with it.

The roaring inferno died, leaving only the dwindling fires scattered about in its wake, the genins disappearing completely. Naruto grumbled incoherently under his breath as he stood, eyes darting around as he kept his head down, and brought his hands into his signature move. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu," he mumbled, not wanting to alert his opponents. Three clones appeared, all grinning as they looked around the area, and, as if receiving an order, leaped into the trees as they kept watch over their respective genin.

He could hear the beginnings of his ambush and smiled as he sat down cross-legged, waiting for them to come back out and attack him.

* * *

Delta was not having a good day.

First, he had woken up early because of excited nerves. His sensei had told them their meeting before that they were to be assigned a mission with another group of ninja - he hadn't received all the details - only because they needed him with a mission, so they were to not take part in any battle, if any, that came across their journey.

Secondly, when he arrived, his sensei wasn't even there! Of all days to be late, he had chosen this one.

Thirdly, he couldn't find a way to somehow win this fight against Naruto-niisan. He was not the infamous dead-last the blonde was, and he wasn't planning to stay eternally genin, either, but he was not as smart as his two other teammates, nor as proficient in a specific type of jutsu.

In other words, he had no specific specialty to speak of.

That didn't make him weak, his sensei had assured him, it just meant that he hadn't found out what he specialized in yet. He believed it and took those words to heart, training constantly to improve upon what he had already learned in the academy with what his sensei had suggested, just to unlock what he assumed was his specialty.

He hadn't given up with his training, so it'd be preposterous if he decided to give up now in a battle.

He sensed Naruto before his eyes saw him, immediately throwing a shuriken into the leafy barrier that covered him. Hearing a satisfying yelp, as Naruto narrowly avoided the projectile, Delta sprinted away, wanting to lure him out of his hiding place. He honestly didn't know why Naruto had come after him, but he wouldn't dwell on it because he was here now and thinking about it would only slow him down. Of course, this unexpected turn of events had caused their already wobbly plan to break down, and the improvising to start a little earlier than planned.

However, he was the king of improvising, as long as he stuck with his guts and instincts.

He heard Naruto jump overhead, rustling the leaves as his sandals thumped deeply against the thick branches of the towering trees, and threw a continuous stream of kunai at him, knowing that the blond hero would evade his attack. Suddenly stopping to catch him off-guard, Delta jumped into the trees as well, landing smoothly on a branch behind Naruto before shooting toward him, an arm drawn back in preparation to punch the living daylights out of him. He felt a surge of jittery nerves as his fist met solidly against the arms brought up to block the attack; sure, it wasn't as effective, but knowing that he could hit someone as strong as Uzumaki Naruto sure did wonders to his self-esteem - even if he was holding back.

He immediately hurled his other arm out, aiming it lower to his exposed stomach, and when that was hastily blocked as well, he brought out his right leg and, with a quick fling of his leg, managed to make him stumble off the branch. Naruto speedily broke his fall, immediately hopping back to gain some distance between them, and nodded approvingly. "Good job, Delta," he said as he gave him a thumbs-up, making him think faintly of Lee, "you're getting better everyday."

Delta smirked proudly as he jumped down, "Thanks, Naruto-niisan."

"Suiton: Rekkū Suigeki!"

Hearing the familiar jutsu, Delta leaped out of the way, watching avidly as Naruto twisted his body in awkward, impossible positions to avoid getting pierced by the ice shooting at high speeds at him; it was effective, however, and Naruto came out alive and unscathed as the barrage of frozen water ceased its assault. Beta appeared above them, looking as passive as always - excluding the frustrated twitch of her lips as she missed her target, and sent another volley of ice darts at Naruto, following him until he hid behind a tree for cover. Exactly where Alpha patiently waited to strike.

"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!" the boy exclaimed when Naruto came to stop right in front of him.

_Ah, shit_, Naruto thought before he poofed away from existence, leaving the forest in flames that were quickly extinguished by Beta.

"That was poor planning on our part," she said when she destroyed the last of the flickering fire. "Using a fire jutsu in the middle of a dense forest was not a good idea."

"I agree," Alpha sighed, rubbing his forehead in exasperation at his own lack of foresight. "The worst part is that it wasn't even Naruto-san that we were battling. I'm sure we would have caught him off guard if it was the real thing."

Delta started at this, "It wasn't Naruto-niisan?"

Beta looked at him like he was severely lacking in intelligence. "Of course it wasn't; it was one of his clones. He sent one to each of us, probably hoping to take at least one of us down since we spread apart from each other." Delta pouted and grumbled to himself, clearly disgruntled at the fact he was fighting a clone.

"Well," Alpha interrupted, "it seems like we can only fight head on unless we want to wear ourselves out fighting clones all the time."

The other two nodded their agreement, and Alpha explained their new plan, starting with Delta as the distraction.

* * *

Naruto was going to have nightmares for _at least_ a month.

What kind of genin used chains - Where do _genins _get _chains _of all things? - to squeeze all breath from their enemy to kill them?

What kind of genin used a fire technique to burn their enemy to crisp ashes?

These were deadly genin, so very deadly that Naruto was getting incredibly unnerved. What kind of idiot allowed this murderous behavior from _genins_? He was going to have a serious talk with Shikamaru. The jounin was a lazy genius, but he wasn't so unmotivated that he was unaware of the deadly things they were capable of.

Delta rushed out into the clearing, a battle roar shattering the serenity that Naruto was left with. He pushed chakra into his legs, increasing his speed, as he diverted more chakra into his fists, ready to pummel the whiskered-face that looked at him with poorly hid amusement. Senses focused on Delta's demanding presence and onslaught of attacks, Naruto didn't notice the creeping genins sneaking out to the edge of the training ground.

Giving a nod to Beta, they both stood side-by-side as their hands ran through the hand signs of their combination jutsu.

"Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu!"

"Fūton: Kūki-dan!"

The flame bullets intensified in heat and size with the help of the wind fanning them, heading directly to Naruto's exposed back. Trapped between two attacks with only one escape route, Naruto waited on his toes as Delta came within arm's reach, grabbed him by the forearm, and threw him into the cover of the bushes so that he could stay safe from the scorching fires steaming through the air. He jumped out of the way, but was stubbornly tailed by the attack, so he dodged the attacks at the last moment, watching as each bullet collided against the ground with every evasion.

"Alpha, Beta, what are you doing?"

The last bullet dispersed as it crashed into a tree, Alpha losing his control over his technique at the stern voice as his ears registered who the voice belonged to. He turned around immediately, locking as with the man as he stared curiously at him. "Shikamaru-sensei," he spoke, "we were just having a mock battle with Naruto-san over there." As if to prove his point, he lifted a finger to direct the dark eyes toward the blond, who was grumbling to himself as he pulled at his hair, finding the some ends of it darkened with the surprise attack.

Shikamaru returned his eyes to Alpha, "You thought it was okay to nearly burn his hair off?" he asked light-heartedly, giving a short chuckle at the pout he received. "You shouldn't use Beta's attack to power-up your own when it's a mock battle, Alpha. Learn to control it while it is before you decide to do a combination attack with it; anything could have gone wrong."

"Yes, sir."

Naruto seemed to notice Shikamaru's appearance, and called out to him with an exaggerated wave. "Hey, Shikamaru!"

"Naruto," Shikamaru greeted, raising his voice just enough for the other to hear him. Naruto leaped over, an uncharacteristically serious expression on his staining his features.

He spoke lowly when he addressed him, making Shikamaru to take this as an important exchange of information.

"Did you know two of your genin tried to _kill_ me?" Naruto whispered dramatically. "No, they actually killed my clones!"

Apparently, it wasn't as serious as he thought.

"Does it matter if your clones were killed? They are just clones," Shikamaru drawled, looking at Naruto as if he thought he was blowing this out of proportions.

"She," he pointed at Beta none too discretely, "suffocated my clone with _chains_ of all things - where on earth did she get those? - and he," he pointed directly at Alpha, who looked back at him with indifferent eyes, "burned two to ashes! What if it wasn't a clone? I could have _died_, Shikamaru."

Shikamaru looked unsurprised; he had received a talented group of genin, after all, so it wasn't a big discovery to figure out that they were capable of defeating an enemy or opponent in battle. "I don't see what's so-"

"Sensei!"

Delta dashed out into the open, only stopping until the pushed himself between Naruto and Shikamaru to look up with wide, annoyed eyes at the jounin. "You kept us waiting so long that Naruto-niisan had to keep us unbored!"

Shikamaru was about to tell Delta that 'unbored' wasn't even a word, but Beta interrupted him, "Sensei, are we going to get our mission, now?"

Straight to the point as always, Shikamaru sighed, scratching the back of his head as he answered with an affirmative nod. "We're going right now. Naruto, Tsunade-sama also called for you; I assume you'll be going on the mission with us, too."

"Really?" Naruto brightened. He hadn't gone on a normal mission for so long; Tsunade always made him go on those boring escort missions to the Kage meetings that were frequent after the war was won, and after that had seldom given him an exciting mission. He supposed his whines and complaints had finally gotten through her head, and she was willing to assigned him to an actual mission. "What kind of mission is it?"

"I don't know," the Nara sighed, eyes looking up at the clear sky, "but we're going to figure it out now, so let's get going."

* * *

"So, baa-chan, you finally decided to give me a mission."

Tsunade looked up with annoyed eyes as she heard the bright voice, clearly excited at the idea of a mission. Naruto walked through the door with gusto, a wide grin planted on his face as the other members participating in the mission followed behind him, lining up before her desk.

"Don't get the wrong idea, brat," she said as she signed off another sheet of paper, eyes barely skimming over the print, "the Kazekage only asked for Shikamaru, but he wanted to bring his team and I wanted you to come as well."

Naruto seemed more curious now at the mention of his good friend. "Gaara? What's going on over there?"

Tsunade laid down her pen, her fingers attempting to massage her exhaustion away. "Apparently," she spoke quietly, "Shukaku spoke to Gaara."

Delta nudged Beta, who stood next to him, and whispered, "Who's Shukaku?"

She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye and shook her head slightly, confusion expressed clearly on her face, showing that she didn't know either.

Naruto tilted his head questioningly, "What's wrong with that? Me and Kurama talk all the time - sometimes with the other tailed-beasts as well."

"Tailed-beasts?" Delta questioned Beta again, who shook her head in response once more.

She sighed, "Shukaku said that he sensed unknown chakra around Suna, but despite their efforts to track who it was, they couldn't find them; their chakra signatures always seem to disappear into thin air every time they came close."

She paused before she continued once more, "Listen, Naruto, there's someone lurking around the Wind Nation, someone who - according to a tailed beast - could be planning something devious behind our backs. The peace that had finally been achieved is already being threatened by someone, and I want them caught, interrogated, and, if need be, eliminated."

Naruto remained silent, contemplating what he was told, while Shikamaru spoke up. "I'm assuming that Gaara wants me there to help him to conjure a capture plan?" he asked.

"Correct," Tsunade answered.

"And you want Naruto there to see if Kurama can sense any malicious intent." It wasn't a question, he already knew the answer.

"That's right."

"Alright," Shikamaru murmured to himself, already diving into the short list of information he had. "When do we need to be there?"

"The Kazekage requested you come as soon as possible."

The jounin nodded, "Then we'll leave now." He gave a bow to the Hokage, his genin team mirroring his actions, and quickly departed, leaving after Naruto impatiently told him to leave without him, saying that he wanted to talk a bit with Tsunade. They talked for a short moment, only for around ten minutes, before Naruto quickly ran off with a grin, not wanting to be late for his first real mission in months.

* * *

"Shikamaru-sensei," Beta began tentatively as they walked quietly on the worn path to Suna, Naruto obviously deep in thought about something and Delta content with the fact that she was the one bringing up the subject, not him. At Shikamaru's curious, yet bored glance back at her, she continued, "what are the tailed-beasts that Hokage-sama was speaking of?"

At this, Naruto broke out of his hazy trance, glancing to his right at Shikamaru who raised an eyebrow, muttering, "I was sure they learned this already…" He slowed his steps until he was between Beta and Delta, who glanced at him wonderingly as if he was going to unlock the world's entire secrets with one word. Alpha kept his eyes on the road, or as much of the road he could see with Naruto, fingers interlocked behind his head, standing in front of him, but kept an ear on the conversation, his interest more subdued than his other teammates.

"Well," Shikamaru started after a moment's silence, sounding reluctant. He paused as if contemplating something and spoke to Naruto, who still looked ahead, "Are you sure you don't want to tell them, Naruto? I'm sure you could tell them more than I can." It sounded like the Nara was trying to get himself out of a very long and troublesome topic of conversation.

Naruto spun around, walking backwards, and grinned at Shikamaru as he adamantly shook his head. "If you miss anything, then I'll fill in some holes." Even Naruto understood what Shikamaru was trying to do.

"Fine," he sighed in resignation, scratching the back of his head habitually. "Before I say anything, though, I'm not going to tell you _everything_ about them; I'll only give you the simple details about them - no history, no powers, no nothing else, got it?"

At the compliant nods, he spoke again, "The tailed-beasts are beings made entirely of chakra. There are a total of nine of them, each possessing a number of tails ranging from one to nine. However many tails they have determines how much chakra they have, which is much more than the average shinobi can contain."

Delta had his hand raised, which was an unnecessary improvement on his part, since he was doing it at an inappropriate time. Still, Shikamaru dutifully called on him, "Yes, Delta?"

"Are they big?"

Shikamaru's brain paused for a split second, not comprehending the short question. "What?"

"Are the beasts humongous giants with tails or are they the size of regular dogs and cats?" Delta repeated his question, clarifying it.

"Ah, they're as big as you can imagine them, I guess," Shikamaru answered with a shrug. "Just know that they're taller than the buildings in Konoha, if you need a visual."

Delta's eyes widened as he imagined them, most likely blowing them out of proportions, but Shikamaru nor Naruto wanted to rebuff his active imagination. Beta, on the other hand, spoke seriously as she asked her own question while Delta's mouth was out of commission in awe at the elusive tailed-beasts. "How do you know that, sensei?"

Anyone would assume that he was told this information by someone else who had either seen the real thing or heard it from someone else, but Beta was not someone to assume things as quickly as others, and often asked the most questions out of his whole team, surpassing even Delta when it came to information gathering. Sometimes, Shikamaru would think when Beta interrogated him with her questions, he wished that she was more accepting - even if slightly - to the things he said, but he knew that it was in her own ninja nature to understand anything and everything she could. "I saw one," was his clipped answer. He knew that he just set off another bomb of questions, especially when Delta snapped out of his reverie to stare at him incredulously.

"Which one?" he immediately asked, hopping excitedly as he craned his neck back to gape at Shikamaru.

"Does it matter?" Shikamaru drawled, staring up at the sky, watching desolately as the clouds passed by peacefully. How he wished he could be up there, away from pestering questions and troublesome genin.

"Of course it does!"

"If he doesn't want to tell us, Delta, then he doesn't want to tell us," Beta reprimanded sternly, looking sharply around her sensei's legs to glare at Delta.

"Hypocrite," Delta muttered with a pout, crossing his arms over his chest. "You always ask sensei question after question until you're satisfied, and if he tells you "Maybe later" or "I don't know", you annoy him until he finally tells you."

"I do _not_ annoy him," Beta retorted, a frown on her lips, "I'm just getting information out of him. It's his fault for being so easy to crack"

Naruto snorted, attempting to smother a laugh.

"That's enough," Shikamaru cut in. "You two can think of whichever beast I saw in your head, but I'm moving on."

At the thankful silence that answered him, Shikamaru readily continued, quick to begin once more. "These tailed-beasts were sealed into people, a select group of people who could contain the beasts. You see, the beasts were very… violent and often destroyed or rampaged through the hidden villages because of their sheer power. The people they were sealed into are called jinchuriki."

"So," Delta hesitantly asked after a pause, making sure that Shikamaru wasn't going to delve any further into the topic, "what do the jinir...jinchu-"

"Jinchuriki," Alpha helpfully supplied.

"Yeah, those people," Delta nodded a thanks to Alpha, "what do they do with the beasts inside of them?"

"I don't know."

The answer seemed to tick Beta's irritation, so she asked another question: "Have you met a jinchuriki?"

"Yes," was the lazy jounin's reply.

"How many?" Delta's interest was piqued. His sensei sure did meet a lot of mysterious things and people.

Shikamaru hummed thoughtfully, closing his eyes as he thought about the question, answering, "Around two or three, maybe."

"But you only saw one tailed-beast?" Delta inquired further.

"The tailed-beasts are sealed into people for a reason," Shikamaru spoke patiently, "why would they let them out?"

Delta remained silent.

"Then," Alpha joined the conversation with Delta's exit, "who are the jinchuriki you met?"

"It's not my place to say," Shikamaru evaded the question, not knowing if he should even tell the genin. Surely, they will figure it out sooner or later; he had received an excellent team, after all.

Alpha seemed nonplussed with his severely lacking answer and looked at the orange and black back of Naruto, dragging him into the conversation as well. "What about you, Naruto-san? Have you met any jinchuriki?"

Naruto glanced back at him with a raised eyebrow and bright blue eyes, grinning as he answered, "A lot"

"How much is a lot?"

"More than one or two," Naruto answered chipperly.

The sun nearly disappeared behind the earth, the sky transforming into a calming, purple-blue from it's original vibrant blood-orange, and before they could question Naruto any more, Shikamaru decided that they should pick up their pace, if they did not want to make the Kazekage wait because they decided to waste their time talking. So, determined to at least make it to the border between the two nations, everyone stole to the trees, leaving behind the lone, dusty path that they traveled peacefully on for the majority of the day.

* * *

It wasn't until they set up camp and were preparing dinner that Naruto forgot about the bowls of ramen he left in the training ground.

* * *

**A/N: **I have an idea of how I want this story to come out, but with my luck and bursts of constant revisions and edits, then it'd probably stray off track or something of the sort. To clear up any confusion about Shikamaru's team, their names aren't actually Alpha, Beta, or Delta, but rather... affectionate (okay, maybe not so affectionate) team names that they sort of christened each other with, and only use it when they're together whether it's on missions or training. It will be what they will be mainly called in this story, though.

Thank you for reading!


	2. Chapter 2

**For the Kings**

**Chapter 2**

* * *

"Just who is the Kazekage anyway?"

They were currently roughing it through Wind Nation's deserts as quickly as they could, not wanting to stay in the extreme weather it happily presented them with, so there was little conversation, aside from the occasional complaint the Delta let slip about the heat, having no experience with the climate. No one else dared to speak, Shikamaru and the rest of his team not wanting the unpleasant, grainy particles of sand to be shoved into their mouths by the swirling gusts; Naruto was most likely used to it, always traveling to Suna as he was either for escorting Tsunade or delivering a message too important for a messenger bird, but probably had bad experiences with sand in his mouth.

Naruto pulled the cloak that they prepared just for this part of the trip higher, covering his mouth from the infinite amounts of sand, before answering the boy's reasonable question. "The Kazekage's name is Gaara," Naruto's muffled voice seemed to overcome the low whistling wind. "He's a show off, only seems to smile once every other month, insanely quiet, smart, strong, and a very good friend of mine."

Delta accepted the answer, staying quiet as a particularly strong blow of wind attempted to shove him back, making him nearly slip on the precarious sand if not for his quick reflexes. Alpha shot him a look from the corner of his eye, watching cautiously as he dusted off his cloak, the loose grains carried by the wind over to him. "Why do you brush off the sand if it's just going to be replaced by more sand?" he asked incredulously, angling his head down and mouth securely protected by the dark cloth of the cloak.

Delta ignored him, tucking his hand back into the uncomfortably heated warmth inside. "How much longer, sensei?"

"Around twenty minutes," was the clipped answer.

He groaned in response, but quickly silenced it when Naruto brought a finger to his lips, telling them all to be quiet. An unnatural sound, one that felt displaced in the whistling desert wind, reached their ears and immediately they brought their guards up, attention focusing on deciphering the noise. They were incoherent, ominous moans that echoed darkly across the sand dunes, jolting Naruto and Shikamaru into action, the genin team following a split second later.

"...Help…" a man groaned, hand reaching unseeingly ahead of him, as they arrived. "Please…"

A lone man lay sprawled on his stomach as he reached desperately toward them, mouth moving and mumbling broken sentences. The genin team stared at the ghoulish, tattered man who stared with blind eyes in their direction, but not at them. Shikamaru gathered himself and carefully crouched near the man, making sure to make his movements fairly loud so that he didn't frighten him in his unstable state, and calmly asked a question.

"Who are you?"

The slurred mumbling halted their disjointed speech and the man's face slowly turned to Shikamaru, jaw jerking as if he didn't know how to speak, but quickly answered him with such hushed seriousness that it was theatrical. "Them," he spat, "they took me away, blinded me… and left me here to die when…"

Naruto stared with wide eyes at the man, whose spiteful voice suddenly stopped, as if suddenly realizing something. "The Kazekage," he spoke with frightening panic, which grabbed all of the Konoha nins' attention. "The Kazekage," he repeated, blank eyes widening as the man tried to push himself up from the ground, falling helplessly after managing to raise himself up three inches, "I need to hurry to the Kazekage."

Naruto dropped to his knees, grabbing the man by the shoulders, looking seriously at him, "What? Why do you need to get to Gaara? What the hell is going on?"

"Naruto!" Shikamaru spoke sharply, cutting through the tension Naruto was emitting. "We have to get him to Suna immediately; he needs medical attention above all else."

Naruto released his hold, biting the inside of his cheek. "Fine," he agreed, helping Shikamaru lift the man, and placed the man's right arm over his shoulder. He looked at the three genin staring at them.

"Is he all right?" Alpha asked, looking with narrowed eyes at the haggard, exhausted expression and the bloody clothes ripped and torn here and there.

"He seems to be breathing a bit slowly," Beta observed, watching the too slow and too deep breaths the man was taking.

"Let's hurry," was Shikamaru's skewed answer, jumping quickly across the desert, Naruto jumping in sync with him, listening carefully to the man's quiet mumbles.

"Kazekage… revolt…"

And that was all Shikamaru needed to hear to grab the few exposed pieces of the puzzle and connect them together.

* * *

"What are you saying, Nara?"

Shikamaru glanced lazily at Temari, who stood to Gaara's left, "Exactly what I just said."

"You're saying," Kankuro cut in, not wanting his sister to say anything unnecessary, "that there are people here in Suna that are planning to go against Gaara?"

Shikamaru nodded, Naruto kept his eyes fixed on Gaara, and the three genin exchanged uncertain glances between one another.

"My people would not do such a thing."

Gaara's serious voice silenced all thoughts, demanding all attention to be directed to him. Shikamaru started, but quickly retorted, "There's always a chance that maybe the people do no-"

"There is no reason for them to rebel," Gaara interrupted, his light green eyes clashing against Shikamaru's dark ones. "What motive, do you think, Nara, would make them do so after peace has been achieved between the Shinobi Nations?"

Shikamaru brought a hand to his face, closing his eyes in frustration, "There are some people who don't agree with it, and would love to do nothing but destroy it under the heel of their foot."

"Yes," Gaara solemnly agreed, "I am aware."

"So there's a perfectly good reason if your people wanted to go against it," Shikamaru explained, watching warily as Gaara closed his eyes, leaning back into his seat. "It's not your fault if it happened to be people from Suna who went against the peace, it's theirs."

Gaara stayed quiet, his eyes still closed, as all eyes watched him. "It is my fault if they refused to accept the peace we all fought and died for," Gaara whispered, "and my fault if I did not lead them down the path they were supposed to walk on together with the village."

"Hold up, Gaara!" Naruto jolted to attention, mouth ready to start refuting the Kazekage's reasoning.

"The faults of the people are the faults of the village," Gaara pointedly continued, cutting Naruto off before he even began, "and the faults of the village can only be blamed on the Kage, no one else is responsible."

"You haven't done anything wrong!" Naruto interjected impatiently, not liking how accepting the redhead was to the unjust blame.

"I am the one who lead those people, Naruto," Gaara explained quietly, ignoring the wide-eyed looks he was receiving from the room's occupants. "All responsibility falls upon me to take them down the path of peace you and I and everyone paved for them."

"Gaara!" Temari exclaimed, taking a step closer to her youngest brother, a surprised expression on her face. One solid look from Gaara, though, and she immediately schooled her features into forced calm, not bothering to hide the exasperated anger that was present in her eyes.

He returned his eyes to Shikamaru, staring blankly at him as he continued. "If what you are saying is true, Nara, then I will hold it only to myself to see to this threat. I will go myself to search for a way to stop this _revolt_."

Now it was Kankuro's turn for an outburst. "Gaara," he spoke sternly, his eyes narrowed dangerously at the indifferent man, "it's true that you're the Kazekage and all, but there is only so much that anyone can blame you for."

"Yeah," Temari agreed, "and I'll tear my fan to pieces before I let you go out yourself to find some lousy group of people when you have a village you need to run."

Gaara glanced right and left, his eyes connecting with his older siblings' in silent conversation, but it was sharply interrupted by a less than proper groan. "Will he just agree already?"

All eyes shot towards Delta, who squirmed under the gazes after he realized he spoke out loud, feeling the particularly weighted gaze of Suna's Kage staring directly into his nervous eyes, making him doubly uncomfortable in his present situation. The Sand Siblings looked as if they had just realized that there were other people in the room - except for Gaara, of course, he knew they were there the moment the stepped into his office behind Naruto and Shikamaru - and Kankuro took the chance to ask, not quite hiding the shock of surprise in his voice, who on earth were those brats standing there.

"My genin team," was Shikamaru's sighed answer. Temari laughed at him, though there was no malice in her demeanor.

"What?" she gasped in mock incredulity. "_You_, in all your lazy glory, got a _genin_ _team_? The world is ending!" She chuckled quietly, a grin on her lips at the genius' put-off expression.

"Even people from Suna know you're lazy, sensei," Delta exclaimed unabashedly, pulling on Shikamaru's jounin vest. "Are you famous for being lazy or something?"

"What are their names?" Kankuro asked, interested in the genins. It had been a while since he'd been near a group of genins, since he was placed on Kazekage guard last month and on continuous missions the time before that.

"This one's Delta," Shikamaru introduced the boy by putting his hand on his head, ignoring the earlier comment about his infamous lack of motivation for general things. He placed the other hand on Beta's head, the girl grudgingly obliging to be treated like a child, "this one is Beta," Alpha nodded politely to Wind Country's leader, "and that one is Alpha."

"What kind of names are those?" Kankuro questioned bluntly, eyeing the genin who returned the look tenfold.

"They're team names," Alpha explained tactfully, ignoring the tone in the puppeteer's voice. "When Shikamaru-sensei isn't here, we pass the leadership to the one whose name goes first."

"So Alpha will become leader if sensei is unable, then me, then Delta," Beta picked up on the explanation, but Kankuro added another question.

"Isn't it pointless if Delta's the leader if you're all incapacitated or whatnot?" three sets of eyes glared heatedly his way, making him take a step back in slight fear as an ominous aura grew around Alpha and Beta and their jounin. Delta was oblivious to the dark atmosphere around him.

"If you are going to fight, leave," Gaara's voice broke the rising tension. He picked up the pen he held earlier before the Konoha travelers arrived, and began eyeing the sole stack of documents that sat neatly to the left of his desk, completely and utterly organized, unlike a certain Hokage that they knew…

"Wait!"

Gaara spared a glance up, seeing Delta unceremoniously squeeze himself between his two stubborn teammates to stand in front of them, eyes sparkling with childish curiosity that made him look less of a ninja and more of a civilian. "You're a jinchuriki, right?"

Temari and Kankuro stiffened beside Gaara, but showed no other signs of discomfort. Gaara remained impassive, not at all as bothered as his siblings in the matter. It was a part of him now, and he wholly accepted it; after all, he was the one who agreed to become the container for the one-tails again after the war, despite the vehement refusals of his brother and sister. It was not as bad as the first time, if he really had to compare the two: Shukaku was very much calmer, though he still occasionally shrieked out of pure bloodlust and murder, but it was at a tolerable level, one that was getting increasingly less tolerable, but better still.

"Yes," he answered without hesitance, wondering why the boy was inquiring about his demon.

"Does it have a name? Can I see it?" Delta questioned further, looking like he had struck gold with the Kazekage's willingness to answer straightforwardly.

_Let me kill the pathetic human, Gaara._

The redhead blinked at Shukaku's sudden voice, not at all troubled with the low growl that echoed only in his ears, having gotten used to the raccoon's in and out conversations that happened now and then. However, even though Shukaku had gratefully become less ranty and savage all the time, that didn't mean that he have a bout of dangerous resolve to kill anything by taking over his mind occasionally.

_Rest_, Shukaku, _and leave my mind in peace. The boy meant no harm in his questions._

A loud, fierce growl could be heard only by Gaara, and Shukaku swished his tail discontentedly as he gave a feral grin, showing his teeth. _Why would I do that when I have such a delicious meal before me?_ Sometimes, Gaara became exhausted with the demon's antics, but he knew it was just a part of him, a personality trait that left things to be desired, and who a person was could not be changed.

_You are not allowed to eat him._ Gaara thought tiredly, unconsciously running a hand through his scarlet locks, unaware of the strange looks he was receiving from the genins.

"Why isn't he answering?" Delta grumbled, crossing his arms as he watched the Kazekage, wondering if he was slightly insane.

"Be quiet," Temari hissed, eyes narrowing dangerously at the boy. She knew the look, she saw it a fair amount of times around Gaara in the past, and she wouldn't forget it even if he was smothered with respectful and awed gazes. "He's speaking with the demon."

Naruto hummed, observing Gaara as he spoke with the raccoon demon, wondering how their skewed relationship was going. Perhaps, it had gotten better over the years, but Naruto couldn't help but worry for his friend's sanity; he remembered how Gaara was in the past - a killer, a lonely, demon-haunted killer - and didn't want another repeat of that after all he went through to finally make it to the top. If he knew worry would practically crawl over his skin like persistent bugs whenever he visited his friend, he wouldn't have allowed himself to let the young Kage receive his former demon after the war. Then again, Naruto had faith that his friend would be able to handle it; Gaara wasn't weak-willed.

"Really?" Delta's countenance brightened, Beta and Alpha interested as well, all of them staring at the oblivious Kage like he was a new specimen to the world. In a way, he was - in their world, at least.

"Do not touch the boy," Gaara mumbled, closing his eyes in an attempt to shove Shukaku back into the seal.

Unfortunately, Alpha heard it, and immediately alerted Shikamaru.

"Do you have little faith in a Kage, Alpha?" Naruto asked, crossing his arms, shooting a glare at the genin. Really, the boy was too prodigal for his own good.

"No," was the boy's clipped response, "I just don't want a demon tearing my teammate apart."

"Ah," Naruto grinned teasingly, "he cares."

"He will not, if that soothes your mind."

Alpha jumped, turning hesitantly to the very aware Kazekage.

"If that is all, then leave," the one-tails' jinchuriki continued, "I have work that must be done." When Delta parted his insistent lips, Gaara cut in, "I will answer your questions at another time, Delta. Is that all?"

At the silence, he spoke only once more, addressing only the blond jinchuriki, "Naruto, stay. I have something to speak to you about."

Naruto, headed towards the door in compliance to Gaara's orders, looked over his shoulder, an eyebrow raised in askance. "All right," he replied, turning back around and returning to his former place as the rest of the group, including the two elder Sand Siblings at Gaara's command, left, Shikamaru lingering a second behind the rest. Silence reigned once more as the two jinchuriki stared at each other, one wondering what the other would say, the other contemplating what he should say. Finally, as always, Naruto decided to break the quiet with a comfortable, to the point question.

"So, Gaara," he began, bringing his hands behind his head, interlacing the fingers, "what do you need to tell me?"

* * *

_They're back._

Gaara looked up at Shukaku's warning, sensing the familiar, yet unknown, chakra signatures that had visited Suna every other night. _Thank you, Shukaku._ Quickly signing his name for one thing or another, Gaara stood up, watching the limited view the circular window provided with calm eyes, before his body flickered away, leaving the office in an empty darkness with only the moon as soft lighting.

_Tch. I'm not doing this for you, _the demon grumbled.

* * *

He could feel it, the scarce trace of chakra hopping about like a hyperactive bunny through Suna, though there was only one - not the few that he assumed there would end up being. Slowly, sitting up, the covers silently falling from his chest, he quickly got out of bed, grabbing his jacket as he left the room Kankuro had shown him some hours earlier. Inside his mind, he heard the soft, yet serious warning that the Kazekage had graciously told him.

_Do not, under any circumstances, go to it. This is my village, Naruto, and it is my job to protect it._

Naruto's eyes flashed in the moonlight that brightened his face once he stepped out into the open, a grin on his face.

_And it's my job to protect my friends._

* * *

"So you came."

Gaara looked down at the intruder, green eyes narrowed dangerously, and remained silent.

"You're as silent as they say you are," lips smiled up at him, but dark eyes remained passive.

"State your purpose," Gaara ordered, sand hung in the air, ready to thoroughly soak themselves in blood.

"My purpose?" the intruder asked innocently. "Why, I'm here to see you of course! The great Kazekage of Suna, the youngest Kage in history, who wouldn't want to meet you?"

Sand climbed up their legs, firmly rooting them to the surface they were standing on, and Gaara wasted no time immobilizing the limbs, the sand stabbing deeply into soft flesh. A grunt of pain was the disappointing response, but it didn't matter to the redhead; he needed this unknown intruder alive, but not necessarily capable of movement - other than his lips, of course. The brown grains traveled higher, coating every inch of exposed skin under the neck, and squeezed - not enough to permanently shatter the bones like he, and Shukaku, would have liked, but enough to crack and snap under the pressure.

He would not dilly-daddle while there was a potential threat to his village.

A satisfying cry of pain rang through the night air.

Slowly, he glanced behind him to find Naruto, blond hair glowing a faint shade of yellow mixed with specks of white, staring at him with bright blue eyes.

"Gaara…"

He snapped his head back to the unconscious, bleeding body held in his sand's grasp, refusing to look at the disappointment that would surely be evident in his friend's eyes. He headed toward the hospital, ignoring the other jinchuriki, as he walked with his eyes closed, knowing the village like it was the back of his abnormally pale hand. Still, Naruto attempted conversation.

"Gaara," he started, immediately coming up to his side, ignoring the scarlet blood the dripped on to the path, "what are you thinking?"

"Nothing," the Kazekage replied, refusing to open his eyes. He was tired, exhausted, too weary to deal with the blond right now. Dimly, he remembered that he told him not to come out, and, saying it out loud, listened to Naruto's reply.

"It's my job to protect my friends," he answered with his brows pulled together. "Plus, I didn't want anything like that Akatsuki thing happening again. I was angry enough for not being there to help you."

The Kazekage wanted to tell the blond that he didn't need protecting, that he could hold his own perfectly well, and that he was _a Kage__, _for goodness sake, but refrained from doing so since he was well aware that Naruto was only worried.

Frantic shouts and fearful gazes presented themselves as the two walked through the double doors of the hospital, and almost immediately several medical nins quickly surrounded the young Kage, worried eyes examining every millimeter of his body, but after a stern, "Look at the man", they averted their attention to the body, broken like a misused doll, splayed on the ground, splotches of blood coloring skin and clothes. Gaara watched silently as they lifted the body into a stretcher, speaking of the several injuries that were littered everywhere the redhead could have damaged without rendering his speech impossible, and removed it from his sight. Naruto observed the scene: an indifferent Kazekage, as always; a dirtied, bloodied, damaged body being hurried down the hall; and shocked extras, who stood uncomfortably in the lobby.

Naruto supposed he could do some good for them, since he too was slightly unnerved just standing there, watching as some people glanced every now and then at the small stain of blood that would harden soon enough. "Gaara," said person spared a glance at him, one eye slightly wider as if raising a nonexistent brow, "maybe we should go."

Gaara, however, seemed to have other plans. "I will wait here."

"C'mon," Naruto whined, "I'm tired, so you have to be tired; besides, that guy probably isn't going to wake up until tomorrow!"

"Tomorrow is in twenty-seven minutes."

Looking for a clock, which was not there no matter how much he looked over the bare walls, Naruto decided he was lying to stay. "Gaara."

"Naruto," was the sound response.

"Go to sleep," Naruto grumbled.

"I do not need sleep - or even want it, for that matter. Shukaku makes sure of that. You, however, may leave."

Naruto remained quiet for one moment, one precious moment that Gaara savored. "Don't you think," he started, his voice quiet and serious, "that he went down a little too quickly?"

Of course. Any knowledgeable and skilled ninja would immediately notice the speed and lack of effort needed to capture this intruder - spy, assassin, etc., he didn't know, so he would not assume - and it bothered him greatly like a shadow of paranoia that would never leave until the light of the truth destroyed its very being. If it was so obvious to Naruto, who of which was not exactly the brightest at picking up signs like these - but, he guessed, it was probably because it wasn't he who was fighting and had the time to observe rather than focus his attention to beating the man - then there was something missing in this already complicated puzzle.

"Yes," he replied after a second of hesitance, "I do."

* * *

Alpha sat, bored, in the group of seats that Shikamaru had told them to wait in. He glanced to his left, seeing Beta sitting stiff straight and Delta resting his head on the top of the spine of the chair, a look of pure boredom of his sleepy features.

"Let's go," Shikamaru appeared, "we're done here."

Delta acted as if cold water was dumped over him, snapping his head up so quickly that it hurt _his_ neck just to see it. "What!" he exclaimed, jumping off the chair. "We just got here!"

"Missions can last from an hour to years," Shikamaru replied, walking away, glancing back once to make sure they were following even in their annoyance. "This one just so happened to last a day or two."

Alpha trailed slightly behind Beta, experienced eyes wandering back and forth, a thought tickling his mind. "What about Naruto-san?"

Shikamaru's pace noticeably slowed, but he didn't stop moving forward, eyes set determinedly ahead where Konoha lay. "He'll be coming after us," at the grumbles and complaints - all of which were from Delta - he uncharacteristically snapped a clipped response, "don't complain. We're leaving."

They speedily made their way out of Suna, not once looking back, as they kept up with their sensei's harsher than normal pace, but they didn't complain; he most likely had a reason, as he always did, and they were all skilled enough to last until the next break or whenever they reach their village.

The silence that reigned was much appreciated and remained that way for the rest of the trip as they ran through the different terrains and obstacles, and only when they reached the gates Shikamaru mumbled, "Sorry, guys, but this is something that you don't need to know."

* * *

**A/N:** Not much in this chapter, my apologies, but I'm sure I can get my mind running for the next chapter sometime soon. Thank you to all who reviewed, favorited, and followed. I appreciate the support!

Shikamaru and the team won't show up much - at least, I don't _think _they will - after this, but they might. Just a heads up!


End file.
